Well i was sad that my beloved buffet sure gave me an upset stomach the next morning..... Laura left for airport, then i laid in bed 2 more hours to see if i´d puke or crap myself before going on a 8 hour bus ride as no bathrooms on board and hot n sweaty. Well I didn´t throw up and my shorts were still clean, ha ha, so decided to go to Colombia as planned............
My stomach was twisting and I was sad Laura had left so the day started off Horrible. I hopped in a cab and told him to the bus station for a bus bound to Colombia. He talked Spanish a mile a minute and spoke of this direct fast bus´grand Colombia´ and drove completely to other end of the city . Remember how cheap I said cabs were........i had 3.00 set aside for cab ride, and I saw meter was at 22.00 when he stopped...........................I totally think he was trying to cheat me.....................driving way around the city rather than the few blocks it should have been................so we got into heated discussion and i refused to pay..............i offered him 10.00 and he really didn't say much and accepted it...........so that makes me sure he tried to cheat me or he would a freaked out more i think.....my bad day got worse after that ride but it was about to get even more worse!!!!!!!!!!!!
I stepped out and everyone on sidewalk was staring at me over the commotion in the cab. I was on a highway on edge of city(Quito), and when i asked for the direct bus to Colombia the driver spoke of.......the bus guy on the sidewalk told me there was none, that i´d have to go all the way back to within a few blocks of where our hotel was..............................where i originally asked to go, the bus station. I was really mad and feeling horrible in my stomach and light headed a bit..................some nice old people explained to me to take the electric tramway car back into town and luckily there was a kid waiting on the platform that i latched next to and he pointed when we had to transfer to another cable car...............then when i should get out and it took 45 minutes, but when i stepped out the bus station was 1/2 a block away. I could totally see it........................but my day would get worse......well almost did!
I sat on the seat with backpack on my knees and my day bag on seat next to me.................this guy wanted to sit down in the adjacent seat so i put the little day bag on my other bag , but he said something in Spanish then grabbed my bag and insisted I put it on floor under me seat....................hmmm i thought, i cleared the seat so he could sit down.....why should he care if i put it on my other bag or under the seat................I'd heard of people slashing bags and stealing contents from sitting behind and reaching under the seat so i played along this little game but was on alert. with my feet i pushed bag forward a bit stepped firmly on the bottom of it(so it couldn't be pulled underneath to seat behind me) and put both my legs in between the bag and hands that could come from behind, while maintaining pressure down on bag with my toe so if it was gently tugged on i´d feel it. the trap was set and about 45 seconds later i felt a slight tug on my bag then i slid my shins together and I felt a hand in between my legs..................I stood up looked behind the seat and there was a guy hunched over reaching under my seat. I loudly started pointing to him saying he was a thief trying to steal my bag. Loudly cursing him(sadly no one on bus prob understood English so i prob looked like a nutcase!) About 1 min or so later................the guy in seat next to me and the guy in seat behind I saw crouching, reaching under my seat.......................both got off bus together! no doubt they were in it together..............................and Laura always says i am too paranoid and worried. But i would have lost the awesome digital camera my parents in- law(yes Laura i do have parents in law´s from Russell!) bought me, plus some cash and travel book....................plus i would have felt like a stupid tit , and naive, to be scammed when i should know better.....................this actually made me very happy as my day was going so bad it would have made me furious.....until that point i was just wishing i was on plane next to my sweet Laura going home to buy another lil beater car.........................................now 27 hours later i am ecstatic to check out Colombia!
I rode to border, crossed into Colombia, got to bus station to find out bus was leaving in less than 5 minutes to a town 9 hours away , or i could be a slacker and relax in station to catch bus in 25 mins that went to town 1 1/2 hrs away...........................well I was travelling alone now.........so i decided to push hard directly went to other bus for bus ride and go to Popayon around 3:30 am after almost 20 hours of travelling. I got this small room $6.00 per night, bathroom, cable t.v.(i watched a movie this afternoon....but that is why i hate nice rooms........they suck u in when u should be out seeing the country,culture).......it kinda smelled a mixture of javex and sourness rolled together,but I was so tired i took it! Today I got up at 8:30 ish to sound of construction noises...........oh well tired, but I walked around beautiful old Spanish colonial buildings and churches here. I went into this restaurant yikes, it had seafood on the sign..............which drew me in..........then i saw the little kitchen and grubby marks on the wall, then of all things I asked the lady what the "almuerzo"or deal of the day was.............as she was explaining she stopped, and made a spitting sound as a lil piece of corn or meat or ? went flying out of her mouth, landing on counter............then she continued describing the deal of the day............i was totally grossed out after that particle flew from her mouth................yuck
Iwent to about 5 cash machines before one finally accepted my card.........i was a bit nervous i´d have no money if it didn't work ................thankfully it did and i just took out another 300 000 pesos as i am going to remote area, mountainous with loads of statues and archaeological sites and hardly any tourists i hear .........so travel book says to carry all the cash u´ll need as cannot cash travellers checks or exchange foreign currency in the town of San Agustine(if i go missing start looking here..........ha ha just joking mom!). bad thing it is 6-8 hours on horrible road i hear to the first town......................then another 6 hours to a further remote in the middle of nowhere town (a person I spoke with said they were there and saw 2 other backpackers the first day there and no one else the second, plus no restaurant in town but this woman cooks simple meals out of her house for foreigners he said....................) Now to me that sounds like an adventure........................inza or tierradentro over 100 excavated tomb sites there. I just got out of tourist info booth and i cannot believe there is this water park, 31 kms from here with water slides, pool, and even natural hot water heated from underground with volcanic mud to smear on your body.....................anyways pamphlet looks awesome and it is 1.50 entrance fee and local bus is 45 mins and .50 to go! Also there is a new zip line that has promotional costs of 10 000 pesos (2500 pesos = 1.00US) or 4.00 , with 8 zip lines included...................I asked the guy about 5 times if he was sure it was that cheap and he kept saying it was............only for me to think about it a few seconds then ask him again if he was sure it was actually that cheap.................showing with my fingers how many ´mil´or thousand pesos it was.
There is also this cool nature park for 2.00 per day fee.............crazy tourism hasn't hit here so prices are all for locals, which are quite poor so everything is dirt cheap! oh and I asked 5 cab drivers and lady from my hotel and they have cock fights here tonight...................so i joked to the guy in tourist booth, he is wearing a police uniform with a big ´tourism´white bandanna around his arm..............anyways i asked him for all details(how much it costs to go, can i buy beer, can i smoke cigars there, how much would taxi cost, can i take bus there, how much, where do i catch bus.................all in Spanish and we could actually communicate with some laughs and hand gestures)...........anyways it starts at 6:00 pm, and he is off work at 6:00 pm , so i offered to bring him with me there and i´d get him drunk!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he laughed but nodded......unless he misunderstood? Anyways i told him i´d be back there to get him at 5:55 pm to go to the fighting of chickens i called it in Spanish (cock fights) then unless I decide to stay here...............i will have a brutal bumpy shitty ass night bus at 9:00 pm to san agustine(taking a night bus will make me tired next day but save a day otherwise i´d have to sit all day on bus if iIwent during the day...............Laura loved when we took night buses..........right Laura!) Anyways the cock fight will be awesome. I can bet on them even and place will be full of drunk dirty locals no doubt which is totally right up my alley and I can practise my Spanish more here.........................maybe learn some swears no doubt!
can´t believe here i´ll be going out into no mans land with 600 000 pesos hidden amongst my bag and money belt, socks, stashed a bit in each pocket of jacket............ to lil pueblo´s(towns) in the middle of freakin no where.....................supposedly the countryside is beautiful though, mountainous n green............good place to lounge round a bit and walk or take horseback to see all these tombs n statues n valleys n stuff
Just ate a great shishkabob(piuncho eh laura! like bob the knob called ém) for .40 3 big pieces of beef , plus a golf ball sized potato, all roasted on a grill on the sidewalk...........bad thing they are tough n grisly a bit so u gotta swallow it all in one piece basically. The mango is good too .20 for a cup of mango slices of a slab of pineapple, 6 inches round and 3/4 inch thick.......huge n juicy
well i hope that young tourist police guy was serious and comes to cock fight with me............will make it memorable He´s still got acne and looks about 19 or 20, but polite and nice kid. Who knows, I may stay another day here and see those water parks n zip lines tomorrow.......................or maybe i´ll push on in 3 hours for the night bus.........as Colombia is huge, and i have so much more to see yet in next 3 weeks.
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